1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a wheel assembly for roller skate and more particularly to a singular locking member in order to simplify entire structure of the wheel assembly and to ensure operational reliability of the wheel assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
The technology trend in skates manufacturing has been toward convertible shoes. Convertible shoes capable of converting from walking shoes into skates are known in the art. Convertible wheel seats are integral with and fixed to the known convertible shoe. Therefore, a need exists for improved the construction of integrated convertible shoes and facilitating their operation.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/666,454 filed on Sep. 21, 2000 discloses ase Structure for Roller Skates The base structure comprise a base having at least two compartments, a bottom plate secured to the base, and a plurality of wheel assemblies each of which is mounted in the associated compartment. The bottom plate includes a plurality of blocks formed on the under side thereof, each block being received in the associated compartment. Each wheel assembly includes a pivotal seat having a first end secured to the underside of the bottom plate, a wheel seat having a first end pivotally connected to a second end of the pivotal seat, and a wheel rotatably mounted to a second end of the wheel seat. Each wheel seat may be pivoted to a storage position in the associated compartment when not in use. When skating is required, each wheel seat is pivoted to an operative position, in which each wheel seat bears against an underside of an associated block while the wheel rotatably attached to each wheel seat extends beyond the base for skating. Furthermore, the base structure also comprises a first elastic member having a first end attached to the pivotal seat and a second end attached to a mounting member on the wheel seat for biasing the wheel seat to the storage position in the base. A stopping means includes a first end mounted to the pin and a second end through which the mounting member is extended. A second elastic member is mounted around the pin for being adapted to bias a stop of the stopping means to a position for releasably engaging with the wheel seat to prevent the wheel seat from moving into the storage position in the base while the wheel seat and the wheel are extended beyond the base for skating. However, the elements of the wheel assembly, such as the first elastic member, the second elastic member and the stopping means, increase complexity of the entire structure of the wheel assembly and cost of manufacture. Meanwhile, the wheel assembly also requires several operational/assembling steps for manufacture.
The present invention intends to provide a singular locking member optionally positioning a wheel assembly either in a stowed position or in an extended position in such a way to mitigate and overcome the above problem.
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a wheel assembly for roller skate including a singular locking member adapted being used to optionally position the wheel assembly in order to reduce elements and to simplify entire structure of the wheel assembly.
The secondary objective of this invention is to provide the wheel assembly for roller skate including a singular locking member that can reduce operational/assembling steps in manufacture process.
The another objective of this invention is to provide the wheel assembly for roller skate including a singular locking member adapted being structurally engaged with a sole base in order to ensure operational reliability.
The present invention is the wheel assembly for roller skate. The wheel assembly mainly comprises a pivotal seat, a singular locking member and a wheel set. The pivotal seat includes a first end pivotally connected to a sole base by a mounting member for convertibly moving between a stowed position and an extended position and a second end rotatably connected to the wheel set for skating. The singular locking member is adapted to optionally position the pivotal seat either in the stowed position or in the extended position. The singular locking member comprises a main plate being adapted to structurally engage with the sole base and two teeth being adapted to lock or unlock the pivotal seat either in the stowed position or in the extended position. The wheel assembly further comprises a button being adapted to actuate the singular locking member to unlock the pivotal seat.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.